


Snapshots

by inatrice



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Post-Recall, Road Trips, copious sap, slight warning for Jesse having a flashback, some slight angst due to Jesse's past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 18:04:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9670049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inatrice/pseuds/inatrice
Summary: After finishing a mission early, Genji has McCree take him on a road trip through his old stomping grounds in the Southwest.For the McGenji Valentine Exchange! One of my prompts was road trip!





	

**Author's Note:**

> For badlyplanned on tumblr, one of my fave mcgenji artists! Kinda star struck that I got to write for you, so I hope you like it! Some of the details were inspired by your art! Happy Valentine's Day!!

 Genji hurried back into the safe house, energy fueled by his excitement at his news. Jesse startled a bit when the door swung open, half standing up as Genji bounded into the room.

"Where'd you get off to, to come back with such a fire under your feet?" He asked, settling back onto the couch and eyeing the new bag in Genji's hand suspiciously.

"Get dressed." Genji told him, bouncing on his toes. "We have an appointment to go to." He chuckled as Jesse just continued to give him a confused look. "Since we finished this job early, I contacted Winston to see if we could use our spare days for a small vacation." He stopped bouncing, pausing for a moment. "I thought…you might also appreciate a break."

They both knew that the biggest reason Jesse had returned with the recall was Genji. The bad taste the fall of Overwatch had left in the cowboy's mouth was known to everyone they knew from before. It had taken some coaxing from Genji and the promise of seeing old friends that had gotten him to finally agree. Even though he had smiled widely and laughed with Lena and Angela and Fareeha, Genji knew still that being back weighed heavily on Jesse. He tried to lighten the load when he could, for Jesse and for the others. It was the least he could do after they had done their best to combat his self-destructive years.

Genji stepped farther into the safe house and sat gingerly next to his partner. "Since we were already in the southwest, I had the idea that you could finally show me around where you grew up. So I requisitioned enough to cover the cost of a rental car, fuel, food, and hotels. As long as we end up in a city we can be picked up in, how does a road trip sound?"

A grin crept up onto Jesse's face. "Vacation on Overwatch's dime? Damn, sweetheart, you know just what to do to make me smile."

"I thought you might like that idea." Genji replied, smiling as well behind his face plate.

Jesse leaned over and kissed the top of his head. "What's with the bag, darlin'?" He asked, throwing an arm around Genji's shoulders.

"It's a camera bag," Genji told him. He set the bulky, black thing into Jesse's lap and unzipped it. "I bought a camera that prints the photos immediately. A Polaroid brand one and everything."

Jesse frowned down at the zipper and reached his metal hand forward, taking the small keychain that was dangling there in between his strong fingers. "Genji," He started, sounding tired. "Did you really need another pachimari thing?"

"I didn't have this one yet!" Genji threw back, sounding more offended than he was. His hand shot forward, taking the trinket out of Jesse's grasp. "It's even better because the paint is messed up. You know I love the ugly ones."

Jesse laughed and shook his head. "Yes, honey, I do know. And _you_ know I think it's cute."

"Heh," Genji chuckled as he took off his face plate. "So long as you do not think I am the ugly one." He leaned forward to press a small kiss to Jesse's lips.

Jesse hummed as they kissed. "No one could ever convince me you're not the most beautiful man on the face of this planet, Genji."

Genji smiled at him as he looked up through his eyelashes. And then he snapped a picture.

His smile widened as Jesse blinked in confusion before he looked over to where Genji was holding the Polaroid out at arm's length to get them both in the shot, a small square printing out at the bottom. Jesse sighed and reached out to look at the developing photograph, Genji resting his head on his shoulder to look as well. It wasn't bad for a first try, and the two of them did look ridiculously, embarrassingly in love.

"You're going to be doing that the whole trip, ain't ya?" Jesse asked.

"Yes." Genji admitted, smile still a mile wide.

Jesse sighed again and leaned his head on the top of Genji's. "All right then, let's get going."

*

They had settled on a silver crossover. Jesse had wanted something more akin to an off-road vehicle, Genji had wanted a car that actually looked nice. After bickering at each other for five minutes, over three languages, and the growing unease of the rental car dealers, they decided to meet halfway. Jesse paid with Overwatch's account with a smug smirk on his face before they piled everything into the back and set off.

The destination was Phoenix, but it wasn't until an hour into the drive that Jesse posed a pit stop. "You ever been to the Grand Canyon?"

Genji stopped glaring at the endless cycle of country and conservative talk radio channels for just a moment to look over at his driver. "No. Should I have?"

"Well, it ain't one of the most popular tourist attractions for nothin'." Jesse told him with a glance. "I like it, and I'd like to see it with you. And it's only a few hours out of our way."

Genji smiled softly, unable to deny Jesse just a bit more time away from Overwatch. "Then let's go." He turned his attention back to the console, pushing buttons until he switched the mode to satellite radio. "Finally! That was unbearable." He glanced over to his partner who merely chuckled.

"Oh, I getcha." Jesse threw a quick smile at him. "Imagine growing up with that."

"No." Genji retorted stubbornly, causing Jesse to bark out a laugh. With a satisfied twist of his lip, he settled farther into the passenger seat, placing his feet on the dashboard. He'd taken off all of his armor for the trip, stuffing it inside one of the bags they had, planning on wearing only his casual clothes to better blend in with other tourist types. "Are there any other stops you want to make?"

Jesse thought for a moment. "You ever been in multiple places at once?"

Genji turned his head to look at him. "Jesse, we have been through teleporters together."

"Ah, true." He took off his hat to run his hand through his hair. "I suppose the Four Corners ain't gonna be nearly as impressive then."

"Unfortunately not." Genji said, not sounding the least bit apologetic. "We also do not have an unlimited amount of time. It's getting late already." He said, nodding forward to the sinking Sun.

"Yeah, yeah, I see it." Jesse resigned. He sighed and put his hat back on, adjusting in his seat as he turned on the cruise control. He looked around one more time, chewing on his lip. "There might be one stop I wanna make. But it's on our way."

Genji shrugged. "Okay." He watched Jesse for a few moments before reaching for the camera bag on the floor. He pulled out the Polaroid and aimed it at his partner, snapping a photo just Jesse glanced over at him.

"You ever gonna give me a warning before you do that?" Jesse grumbled at him, though he was smiling.

"Probably not." He said, watching as the picture faded into view. "It's cute." He said excitedly and waved the photo in Jesse general direction; it featured the cowboy with a single hand on the steering wheel, the dimming sunlight making the darker tones in his skin glow. There was only love in his eyes.

*

As the crossover slowed, Genji looked up from his blinding phone screen. "Are we in town?" He asked, squinting as he looked out the window into the night while his visor whirred trying to equalize the light intake.

"Not yet." Jesse said, pulling over to the shoulder of the dirt road he'd inexplicably turned down three hours ago.

Genji clicked his phone off. "Where are we, then?"

"Old place I used to come when Deadlock got to be too much." Jesse admitted quietly. "I ain't been under these stars in forever. Wanted to see 'em again."

Neither of them spoke as Jesse drove a bit farther off the road into the desert. Genji couldn't help but let his mood grow solemn. For Jesse to bring him to such a personal and quiet place was a step in their relationship the he wouldn't take lightly. He raised his hands to his faceplate and slipped the metal pieces off, wanting to experience this without any interruption.

Finally, the car stopped moving. Jesse sighed quietly before he opened the driver's side door. Genji waited a few heartbeats after he heard the older man's boots hit the ground before opening his own door and sliding out, dimming the lights around his vents despite the jeans and sweatshirt he wore. He silently made his way around the front of the vehicle to stand next to his partner, giving him space at first, watching him gaze up at the stars. After a few moments, Jesse reached out his hand and pulled Genji close. Genji hummed, content, as he let himself rest flush against his partner's chest, fitting perfectly as he always did.

"Pretty, ain't it?" Jesse asked after another few silent moments.

"Yes." Genji replied. "It is interesting to see the different positions of the constellations here. In Nepal, they don't sit quite the same."

He could feel Jesse nod slowly behind him. "Bet you had a mindblowin' view out there, didn't you? On top of the mountains and everythin'?"

Genji quietly agreed, before pressing himself farther into the cowboy's chest. "Before I died, I rarely spent time outside of big cities," he admitted, resting his metal arms on top of Jesse's. "And after, I was too angry to even think about taking time to look up at the beauty above me." His hands tightened on his partner's, the emotions coming from the words scaring him, but knowing there was hardly a better place to speak them. "The stars were there for me among the Shambali, and I'm glad they were here for you too, when the world got to be too much."

There was a quiet huff from Jesse before he leaned down and stuck his face into the crook of Genji's neck. Feeling his beard and his breath against his cybernetic skin had always been a strange sensation, never quite what Genji was expecting, but here in the cool night air of the desert, he decided he didn't mind it so much. It was better than not feeling him at all.

"Can I ask you a favor, Genji?" Jesse asked finally, lifting his head away to speak.

"Of course."

"I used to spend nights out here, sleeping in the quiet before going back to Deadlock…"

Genji pushed himself away from the cowboy in the blink of an eye. "You _slept_ out here?'

"W- well, yeah." Jesse chuckled at his reaction.

" _By yourself?_ "

Jesse shrugged. "Why not? I had a gun if any animals thought about getting too friendly. And it's the desert. Not like it's gonna start raining on me."

Genji narrowed his eyes at his partner. "You want to sleep out here tonight, don't you?"

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble," he requested, sounding more amused than sheepish.

With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, Genji agreed. "All right. But we're sleeping on top of the car."

"Reasonable."

"I'm getting blankets."

"Good idea."

Jesse helped him grab everything out of the crossover and the two of them climbed onto the roof and spread out the blankets to make sleeping a bit more comfortable. Once they were settled, Genji grabbed the Polaroid out of the camera bag and held it out in front of them.

"Picture." Genji demanded.

"Yessir," Jesse agreed, a smile still in his voice as he leaned over and kissed Genji's cheek.

The two of them cursed at the flash in the dark, finally both giggling as they snuggled closer together underneath the stars. They wouldn't see until morning the developed photo of the two of them smiling and squinting horribly in the washed out light of the flash.

*

"This is it?" Genji asked, leaning out the window of the crossover.

Jesse glanced over and smirked at the soft breeze that was fluffing up the tufts of Genji's hair. "This is it! Santa Fe."

Genji hummed as he rested his chin on his crossed hands. "It's nice."

"Ha!" Jesse barked. "That's because we're near downtown." He squinted at the signs on the freeway and merged onto an exit lane. "Here, I'll show you the Santa Fe I really know."

Genji remained silent as they drove, smiling softly as Jesse cursed and muttered under his breath about how different everything looked. It was obvious as they went along that they were going into a poorer part of town. Genji watched as the buildings grew more and more rundown, trying to picture a young McCree walking the sidewalks.

"See gentrification ain't reared it's head here yet," Jesse commented as he turned into a more suburban area. "Now, it ain't nothing like what you had in Hanamura, but," he nodded forward, "coming up on the right here. The house I grew up in. It was my gramma's. She tried to raise us after our parents passed, but…" He fell quiet. "Well, you know how that turned out." He paused again, shifting in the driver's seat as he tried to look around. "Shit, I ain't been down this street in twenty-five years."

Genji glanced at him. He knew Jesse had been young when Deadlock picked him up, but there was still the uncomfortable knowledge of just how young he'd been. At least Genji's father hadn't started including him in family business until he was fifteen.

His gaze turned back to the houses as Jesse huffed out a choked laugh. There was a small two story house that Jesse slowed in front of. The exterior was a warm brown stucco and had the ceramic tile roofing that Genji always found so charming in the southwest.

"Ah, they changed the color." Jesse commented. "And the tree." He shook his head.

There was a family there too, a young couple with a small boy. He and the father were tossing a fabric Frisbee back and forth while the mother watched them with a warm smile and pet the cat that was sitting in the sun next to her on the porch.

The little boy saw their car slow and waved to the both of them as they drove by. Genji and Jesse smiled and waved back, Jesse tipping his hat to the parents, before he hit the acceleration a bit and carefully sped off.

Genji looked over to his partner, watching him with curious eyes. "Was it strange seeing a different family in your house?" He could hardly imagine anyone different in his own family home, walking the grounds of Shimada castle, where they shouldn't be.

Jesse shook his head again. "Naw, it ain't been my house in decades." A small satisfied smile touched his lips. "I'm glad it can serve someone else well, better than it did me."

Genji watched him for a few heartbeats before he pulled up the Polaroid and snapped a picture.

Jesse rolled his eyes and gave an exasperated laugh as a blush crept up his neck. "Would you quit that?"

"No." Genji replied with a grin.

His smile widened as he looked down at the developing picture: Jesse smiling wistfully against the warm tones of late afternoon Santa Fe.

*

Genji dropped his towel to the bathroom floor. He gave a small sigh before opening the door and stepping back into the hotel room they finally made it to. He had never been on an old fashioned American style road trip. The longest he'd ever been in a vehicle was traveling internationally for Overwatch, but those had never been any fun, nor had he ever looked forward to them like he had this trip. There was probably a saying about love making everything different in there but his thought processes stopped when he saw Jesse awake and sitting up on the hotel bed.

A quick flash of guilt shot its way through Genji's system before he realized Jesse was staring hard at the vague sunlight seeping in through the room's blackout shades. He took a cautious step forward.

"Good morning."

There wasn't a response. Genji frowned and walked farther into the room. Jesse continued to stare at the window even when Genji's knees sunk into the bed. "Jesse?"

Still there was nothing. Genji shifted closer as Jesse's brows drew together, creating worry lines on his face. He whispered McCree's name a few more times before reaching forward and pressing his hand to McCree's cheek. "Jesse, come back to me, love."

Jesse sucked in a sharp breath, right hand shooting to a holster that he wasn't currently wearing.

"It's just me," Genji said gently, pulling back just a bit.

"Fuck, Genji…sorry," Jesse exhaled, blinking hard. He brought his hand up to bring Genji's back to his cheek. "Mornin'," He said with a tired smile, turning to kiss Genji's palm tenderly.

"Good morning." Genji said, worry still tingeing his voice. He hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "Are you all right?"

The muscles in Jesse's face twitched. "Just thinkin' about home, is all. I'm fine, darlin'."

Genji let out a soft sigh. If Jesse didn't want to talk, he couldn't make him. He could only silently swear to be there for him when he _was_ ready. "I did not mean to wake you, I just thought I would get a head start getting ready for traveling today."

Jesse shook his head and his smile grew. "Naw, you're okay, sugar." He ran his thumb slowly over the back of Genji's mechanical hand, his expression softening the longer they made eye contact. "Sleep just ain't the same when you're not here next to me."

Genji scoffed lightly, his face heating terribly. "You are a sap, Jesse McCree." He huffed.

"Don't I know it." Jesse smirked. He reached over and plucked the Polaroid from next to his prosthetic on the bedside table, snapping a picture quickly.

The both of them laughed as they watched the picture of Genji blushing indignantly develop.

*

The last leg of their trip finally brought them to their vacation destination. The Grand Canyon was unlike anything Genji had ever seen before. He'd seen many of nature's splendors in the Himalayas, sure, but there was something mindboggling about the endless miles of stratographed reds and browns and golds. Genji walked up to the railings of the North Rim, his jaw hanging slack. It was later in the day and there were fewer tourists around, but the slowly receding light only proved to add to the beauty.

Jesse stepped up behind him, boots clicking on the concrete platform. "Worth it?" He asked quietly, sounding smug.

"Yeah," Genji breathed, not even bothered by the tone of his partner's voice. "Definitely worth it."

Jesse reached forward and Genji leaned into his touch, welcoming the cowboy's embrace as he wrapped his arms around Genji's waist. They stood there together, silently, taking in the view. Eventually, Jesse rested his chin on Genji's shoulder, his hat skewing as the brim bumped the top of Genji's head.

"I ever tell you I love you?" Jesse murmured, hugging him tightly.

"Only a few times," He replied with a soft smile. He turned and pressed a kiss to Jesse's scruffy temple. "Have I told you that I love you, too?"

"Mmm, never hurts to hear it again." Jesse said, smile coloring his voice.

Genji just laughed, resting his head against the side of his partner's. He gave it a few more minutes before he reached for his camera bag, pachimari jingling merrily as he opened it. He pulled the Polaroid out and held it so that he could take a picture of them both, but as he pressed the button down, nothing happened.

"Oh." Genji pulled the camera to him and popped it open. "I ran out of film!" He groused as Jesse chuckled in his ear.

"You could just take a selfie like you normally do." Jesse suggested.

Genji frowned as he shoved the camera back in his bag. "It's not the same now. Aesthetics, Jesse."

"All right, darlin'," He shifted as he dug into his own pocket. "Hope you don't mind if I do then." He held his phone out and smiled, while Genji frowned, only looking at the phone out of the corner of his eye. Jesse laughed again and kissed Genji's cheek. "Sour puss."

"The man who dresses like a cowboy every day of his life is telling _me_ to calm down about aesthetic?" Genji tried not to laugh, but a smile ended up on his lips anyway.

"Um, excuse me?" A voice came from behind them. They turned around to see two young women, one with her own camera strapped around her neck. They looked at the sheepishly, the camera girl glancing down at her feet before she spoke again. "Sorry to bother you, but, I'm here with my girlfriend and seeing you two here as well made us really happy. And I know this is awkward but the lighting was really good and I heard you complaining about being out of film, so…" She glanced at her girlfriend and held out her hand, showing them a square photograph. "I took a picture."

Genji's face lit up and he took the photo from her. It was perfect; the setting Sun painted the Canyon walls brilliantly, framing their silhouettes with warm colors. She had caught them just as Jesse had kissed his cheek.

"Thank you," Genji said, smiling kindly at the two young women. "You saved my vacation."

The other three laughed and Jesse threw an arm around Genji's shoulders. "Ladies," he started with a roguish smile, touching the brim of his hat. "Thank you for assuaging him. We really do appreciate it." He glanced down at Genji. "You ready to go catch a flight, darlin'?"

Genji nodded. They thanked the women again and headed back to their car.

In the days following, once they made it back to Overwatch's base, each snapshot made its way onto the walls of their shared room.


End file.
